Originally Posted by South Fulcrum
alanbikehuston,
If you need a letter o' rec. for you application at OnGuard, just let me know
.
I can't tell from all the other post, but is the one to get the Brute Series. How well do the others match up?
I have two "Brutes", but if a compact U-lock will fit around your rear wheel and the post on the bike racks that you typically use, the OnGuardBulldog Mini U-lock selling ($24 at REI) is equally strong.
The OnGuard Bulldog Mini - (model 5013) weighs just 1.7 pounds. The Bulldog Mini has an "open space" of just 3 1/2 inchs wide and 5 1/2 inches long. That is just big enouh to lock it around the rear wheel of a road bike or hybrid, and a typical parking meter post or traffic sign pole. It is a "snug" fit that will sometimes cause you to look for a slimmer locking pole. And, you will have to "wiggle" your bike up tight against the post you are using. That snug fit, putting the locking pody up against your left chainstay, is what makes a Mini lock so effective.
If I needed to use a rack with posts wider than three inches wide on a regular basis (posts too wide for a mini U-lock), I would use the Kryptonite New York 3000. Its 4 inch by 8 inch size will fit around both a rear mountain bike wheel plus a beefy locking post. When I need to carry around a four pound lock, I want to carry the BEST one, and that is the Kryptonite New York 3000.
In maximum security situations, such as parking outside the "midnight movies" in downtown Houston, the Kryptonite New York 3000 locks my rear wheel to a post, and the OnGuard "Mini" locks my front wheel to the frame. That bike ain't going nowhere.
HOW TO LOCK YOUR BIKE by Sheldon Brown:
www.sheldonbrown.com/lock-strategy.html